HPV Induced Oropharyngeal Carcinoma-A critical review

Oral cancer is the most frequent cancer of the head and neck region and is one of the common causes of mortality. The effect of etiological factors such as tobacco and alcohol consumption in its causation is well known, however there are a growing number of cancers that occur in patients without exposure to these established factors and a viral association especially human papilloma virus has been referred to the development of oral cancer in such patients. Human papilloma virus, a DNA virus has been implicated as an etiological agent for a subset of oral squamous cell carcinomas especially those arising from the oropharynx. Human papilloma virus associated tumors are a distinct clinico pathologic entity and they have a better prognosis as compared to the human papilloma virus negative carcinomas. It is therefore important to assess oral cancer in patients without the potential risk factors, focusing on the role of human papilloma virus enabling to improve the diagnosis and an appropriate clinical management.